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my cue? okay. can i see the shot? >> producer john tower, be kind. what answers do you have? >> have? >> we have a good buddy from new york city who writes, i tuned in to find out who louis was wearing during last night's in natural ball. >> what were you wearing? >> i was wearing tar go. i think they featured me and very happy. >> louis looks great. who wants to see him drink straight from the bottle? >> no! nice try. >> great show, everyone. "morning joe" starts right now. >> hey, baby! f

>> we must make the choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. but we reject the belief america must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its futur future. >> the commits we make with medicare and social security, these things do not sap our nation, they strengthen us. they do not make us a nation of takers, they free us to take the risks that make this country great. >> wow, look at the crowd. this is a full bar the day after all the natural balls.

i'm not sure what's going on here. that was president obama yesterday using his second natural address to preview his aggressive agenda with a focus on immigration reform, gay rights and climate control. organizers estimate as many as 1 million people filled the national mall. as the commander in chief exited the stage, he paused to savor the moment. the tradition of natural balls continued into the night. they attended 10 natural balls last night that went quite late and the first lady holding just two, the lowest since the eisenhower administration. >> i don't think ike liked

natural balls anymore than president obama. >> do you like natural balls? >> no. they're miserable. >> there's another tradition i think we started here, the natural hangover coverage at our favorite watering hole. another fantastic crowd, hi, everybody! what are you doing awake? ion what to say. it's packed, the other room, too. >> i know. >> they are drinking like fish. >> i know. they are drunk already. of course, if you're a conservative this morning, you really want to be drinking and drinking hard. it's tuesday, january 22nd. with us on set we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle and msnbc political analyst and former chairman of the republican national party when there was a republican national party and al hunt and anchor for world news, america katty kay.

the reviews are in. >> the reviews are in. >> it was a liberal speech for a liberal constituency. the left is saying that, the center is saying that and the right is saying that. the only thing i've seen all week since being here any progressive shot of middle america, the conservative america, has been this morning when al hunt wore cowboy boots. >> i saw that. why is that? >> i saw the talk about you going sockless and mika told me i couldn't match your legs. >> you covered it up. the reviews are in. >> the reviews are in and we will show parts of the speech and the day yesterday as well. certainly, there are a lot of questions as to where we go from here and where does the republican party go from here. listen to this, there is some agreements among pundits about the goal of the president's speech. the "new york times" said this. the president made a forceful argument for a progressive

agenda. the most sustainedly progressive statement barack obama has made in his decade on the national stage. >> and the "washington post" called it unabashedly progressive. and praising the speech as important and elaborated obama is basically declaring the end of reaganism in this speech. and the wall street editorial page said president obama has never been as candid as he was on monday in asserting his liberal ambitions. if his second term does break down into more partisan gridlock and rancor, let the record show that the president set the tone with his second natural. -- second inaugural. >> al hunt, do you agree with the assessments, this was an a unabashedly liberal speech. >> it was. his vision, we should not be surprised is that of a liberal progressive where he wants the

country to be in 10, 20 years. i think it's a mainstream liberal position. i don't think it was any flaky stuff. i think that's what an inaugural address is for, not a state of the union, not a budget, says here's where i think the country ought to be. what reagan did in '85 and roosevelt did and we shouldn't be surprised. it was a strong progressive liberal speech. >> what was the purpose of the speech? what was the president trying to accomplish who always tried to move the ball one way or another. and usually we have president bush talking about extended hand and other presidents reaching out to the other side. this persistent didn't do this yesterday. that certainly was his right. why do you think that is? >> it was an obvious statement to the people assembled and watching and people behind imon

the stage to the other elected officials. i won. i won. i am far less naive today than i was four years ago but far more certain today who i am and where i want to take this country over the next four years. basically, that's what that peach was. >> what's the practical fact, he talked about climate change. he won't pass cap and trade through the house. >> when i heard that line, what struck me is this is the obama-care of the second ad administration. climate change is the sleeping dog issue that he is going to be what he will fashion piecemeal. i think that will be part of the second term legacy what he gets done. not so much the social stuff a lot of people certainly in the conservative movement concern themselves with, the bigger idea that falls into that broader

vision. he reformed one six of the nation's economy with health care. now, he will go to the next level with global change on the environment. i see that as a sleeper and agree it was a very progressive speech. the idea he's putting a period on the reagan period saying this is a new day, we're going a new way and these are the agenda items i will touch on. the question for us, joe, conser conservatives how do you make the chess table now, he's made a couple moves and been successful on those moves and how do you post those? >> i'm glad you brought up chess. that's what requires thought and strategy and skill. republicans have been walking up to the chess board the past several years and waving their arms. here's a party facing the president with a 70% approval rating as far as being likable. 52% of americans approve of the

job he's doing as president. only 26% approve of the republican party. john boehner has an 18% approval rating. the tea party, 9% approval rating. this is a movement, this is a party in retreat and that's why the president did what he did yesterday. >> let's look at that. best case scenario would be to have two strong parties and a great national conversation and great sense of balance. i understand how you could read the speech as i won, ha-ha, and also, could be seen as this is what the country is telling me. how do we get the other points of view in there. maybe perhaps -- this is the hard part, extract what i think is dying and what i think you think is dying, that is the extremist part of that. >> the extreme part of the republican party is in retreat and just as bill buckley chased john birchers out of the conservative movement in the 1960s, so, too, will these

extremists be chased out of the mainstream of the republican party. they will evolve or they will die. it's that simple. i'm not so sure the president can say, katty kay, this is what the american people talked about and told me during the campaign. the president didn't bring up climate change that much during the campaign. he took most of his first term to come out on gay marriage and only did because joe biden forced his hand. the same thing with gun control. newtown changes the landscape just like 9/11 changed the landscape. i wonder if the president didn't do two things that will cost him nothing, appeased his base knowing he has to compromise move moving forward and put the republicans now on guns and gay marriage and climate change in a position where they will apologioppose it, may win and will look older

and more out of touch with younger voters. >> a speech outside washington all this appeal tom coming together and did it at the white house we are going to do this if you want to do this. i thought he was reaching out to american voters and saying, here's my agenda but i need you to come with me and make this happen. i thought in that respect it was an intensely political speech, you're right. there was none of the red states, blue states, purple state of 2009. there was much more of the ideal and he had even said he would give clean water to african countries, that was a change the world speech. this was far more practical, far more political. here's my agenda, this is what i want to do. i'm appealing to you, the american people, over the heads of republicans here in washington to get this done. the problem with that, you have an election two years from now,

democratic senators a lot of them living in republican states won't do anything on climate change. i don't want to offend anybody. if you're a democrat from a conservative state, you're not going to move on climate change, you're not going to make gay marriage any more part of your campaign than barack obama made it the center of his. on gun control, i think we will get reasonable control of assault weapons and registration, our background checks. i don't think anything really sweeping. >> joe, i agree. you summarized it best a few minutes ago. he thinks he's on the winning side of history on this, that's different than saying on the winning side of agenda the next two years. i don't think anything will happen on climate change. i think 10, 15 years from now, those climate change deniers will look silly or as bobby jindal put, the stupid party. the same thing on gay marriage,

so many kids can't understand why -- >> absolutely. >> he's on the right side of history even if he doesn't win legislative achievements. what happens in 2014 will be how republicans respond. >> keep in mind 2014 to that point, we're only talking 17 seats in the house for the democrats to take majority, i know a lot of emphasis has been placed on redistricting and the impact of gerrymandered districts, the people, at the end of the day, something i learned as an rnc chairman, they get to call the final shots. in a lot of races in 2010 we weren't expected to win because of the composition of the district, we won. we're looking now but i have a little bit of hindsight to sit back and say the landscape changes because the people ultimately will decide. the republican party has to be smart. >> think about this. go back four years to where we were, the morning after the inauguration four years ago, nobody in washington, nobody in

america, nobody in the world would have predicted the republican party two years from that point, under your leadership, would win more seats legislatively nationwide than any party in modern american history. i think the house republicans, mika, are in great danger. they've certainly botched things since the election. they are in great danger if they continue to look the way they're looking, numbers going down and losing the house. >> there could be opportunity, too, as well. we'll go to that. one other thought on the speech and then we'll move forward what else happened yesterday that pertains to this. david ignatius writes in the "washington post," a flat partisan and pedestrian speech. the only voice that really soared at midday was beyonce's while singing the national anthem. president obama's second inaugural address by contrast was flat, partisan, and surprisingly pedestrian, more a laundry list of preferred

political programs than a vision for a divided america and a d disoriented world. maybe obama has a strategic vision for the second term but all i heard today was a rallying cry to his supporters as they prepare for the political fights ahead. later on in the morning, he was criticized for not reaching across the aisle enough in his speech. president obama made an attempt to reach out to congressional republicans at the post inauguration lunch. take a look. >> i recognize that democracy is not always easy. i recognize there are profound differences in this room. but i just want to say thank you for your service and i want to thank your families for their service. regardless of our political persuasions and perspectives, i know all of us serve because we believe we can make america for future generations. and i'm confident that we can act at this moment in a way that makes a difference for our children and our children's

children. >> mike, that seemed far more conciliatory than the, as you said, the inaugural speech you summarized as i won, get over i it. >> this president, more than any president, i think, in our lifetimes and my lifetime, goes back to garfield -- >> how was garfield? >> he was a pretty good guy, joe. >> what could have been. baseball had not been invented yet. >> this president more than any presidents in our lifetime is a solo act. he is a solo act. he always has been, remains to be a solo act. i'm listening to the editorials and reading some of the editorials that were referenced here today with sort of a sense of be musement. there were no surprises in what he said yesterday. people ascribing the speech as

excessively partisan or excessively progressive, how is that? what did he say? i am not going to dismantle social security, i am not going to strip medicare and medicaid from poor people, i am going to ask us to think of "we" rather than "you." i am going to ask politicians to think of the nation that you swear the oath to, not to the district that you're represented -- that you represent. what is the surprise here? there's no surprise, i think, to most people. the references to stonewall, well, you just referenced it. you talk to any under the age of 30, they say, what is the big deal here? and we sit around saying, wow. what a -- geez, that was a progressive speech. wow, boy, was he partisan. i don't think so. >> you didn't see it. >> what did you think? >> i thought -- i thought it was a note line -- i think he has

finally decided, obviously, he's a free man, electorally. he's not running again, so the ha handcuffs are off. he looked at the rear view mirror the past four years and said, listen, many of the republicans, they don't want to come to the table, they don't want to deal with me, they don't like me. so here's who i am. this is what i believe. follow me. >> if only republicans liked barack obama as much as barack obama liked republicans -- oh, wait a second, i just don't think he does, mika, other than me, of course. >> hold on. i think he does -- >> he does like you. >> he does like you! >> hold on a second -- [ applause [ applause ] >> no. don't -- don't -- i -- i don't want to hear it. >> ckatty kay, what do you thin about this speech?

partisan? >> you are willing to make a deal. i've seen you two together. it works. you want to know where it doesn't work? when you have someone like john boehner or mitch mcconnell not coming to anything. not coming to anything or going to one state dinner and not even staying to shake his hand. i mean, come on. come on. [ applause ]. >> talk about being on the wrong side of history, i'm on the wrong side of history in this bar. >> can have an independent -- >> you have david ignatius saying it was a partisan speech and to retain my conservative cred, i think so. i thought it was more partisan. there wasn't the soaring rhetoric. >> in that respect, i agree. it was fairly simple short list of the points he wants to hit in his second term.

maybe that's a good thing. we've had a lot of soaring rhetoric from this president in the last four years. not all of it has been followed through. politte t polito-fact said only half has been enacted during this is first term and this is a speech where he said, this is what i want to do and know from the results of the last election, i have the constituency. that's what shifted since the last one democrats feel, maybe not in the mid-terms, they have the constituency on their side. they're feeling pretty confident in 2016, if the demographics continue as they are and no reason they shouldn't, this is looking like a country that will elect another democrat. [ applause ] >> nor a lot of republicans, yes, you really -- the issue really revolves around the idea that the last four years, a lot of republicans felt like they were shadowboxing this guy because we did not know -- you

say, mike, what's the surprise? a lots of republicans would say, yeah, we weren't surprised because the barack obama that stood on the capitol steps yesterday was the guy we thought he was the last four years, was a progressive laying out a progressive agenda for the country, something we have a problem with. now the shadowboxing is over, you have the real guy, what do you do? >> what do you do? >> you confront him on the issue that unifies all republicans. that's the federal debt. i actually was really disappointed. i wasn't surprised by much in the speech yesterday and a lot of what he said's just not going to be implemented. he was playing for history, al, i think you're right. i was really disappointed by what i thought was just petty partisan talk on social security, medicare and medicaid. medicare and medicaid will bankrupt us, ask bill clinton's former keefe of staff, erskine bowls.

it will bankrupt us, ask the concord coalition. it will bankrupt us, pete peterson will tell you the same thing. we're in trouble as a country. republicans and democrats, let them fight these social issues out all they want, they have to come together, though, on saving social security, saving medicare, saving medicaid and saving this country from an economic meltdown. we're not far away. katty, i criticized george w. bush for eight years for massive reckless spending. he allowed the federal debt to go up 6 trillion dollars during two terms. barack obama allowed it to go up six trillion dollars over one term m. that just continues moving forward. we can't afford this anymore. >> right. you can't afford the european model, which has imposed massive austerity and kill growth when the country is still-the-you have a long term problem of deficit and long term problem of the country of growing

inequality i think is something the president was trying to address, not good -- >> none of that matters if we don't take care of long term debt. i'm not talking about slashing an burning short term budgets. we don't need to balance the budget now, we need to take care of long term debt. >> if your party is serious about that, they have to develop a credible voice on it. i don't disagree with you. that balance in the conversation is needed. coming up here the dubliner -- any conservatives here? he's wearing a bow tie. he must be a conservative. up next, reverend al sharpton. mike allen also with the "politico" playbook. first, here's bill karins. >> hey, mika. we heard our panel of experts all morning long. tom, what moment did you take out of yesterday? >> i was amazed, the crowd was

so diverse and also so pleasant. very nice day to be out there. >> natalie, yourself? >> the overall unity of the crowd and how the president tied that into his speech. >> what do you remember. >> it was great to be witnessing history and things are going to get better. >> what about you? >> i liked the way the president talked about us coming together as a country and so proud of him when he took the oath of office, so happy he was re-elected. >> nothing against people in the second row. laura? >> i thought the girls looked great, sasha and malia. >> a lot of people will be talking about the fashion today, no doubt. and the weather made news across the midwest and great lakes and we had cold air and horrible accidents through the region and has now swept into d.c. after three unbelievably beautiful days, coldest weather of the season arriving in d.c. and windchill in negative numbers and this morning, we're down to 8. chicago, dangerous in minneapolis and windchill, minus

26. one of those mornings, bundle the kids up, talking max clothing and gear and snow on cape cod, be careful driving there and through buffalo and erie, you also have to watch out for slippery travel. you can see much of the great lakes with the snow. look at the high temperature in minneapolis. it will be 1 today. that's it. 1. and temperatures in the freezing mark in many east coast cities. d.c. had a little issue with any forecast with snow a couple days ago. they missed, didn't get anything. another chance for snow, not just d.c. but everyone on the east coast, if you have friday travel plans from boston to newark to d.c., friday looks like a travel trouble day with snow. thanks for your comments, everyone. great crowd, as always. what are you doing?

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to happen. >> 29 past the hour. >> now, he just needs to be careful. >> this is not a bar full of college kids. this is a bar full of people like you and me. they're all drunk. with us now is the host of msnbc's politics nation and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. you really had a great view of everything yesterday. >> but i'm not drunk, i'm sober. >> you're not drunk? al, speaking -- i guess mike is chief correspond for "politico." al is here with the morning playbook as well. >> let's get to mike -- what are you -- a bloody, for my buddy. you want a bloody. while that's going on, we'll talk about the bible while we're

drinking. yesterday, you had quite a day. you were with the president at the church service and then up on the viewing stand and then went to the white house. >> on the platform. >> what it was, yesterday was a cross section of history. martin luther king day. he invited me as president of the national action, presidents of the urban league and president of naacp, all these events and martin luther king's son. it was his way of recognizes dr. king's birthday and commitment to that agenda. we were at the church service and the agenda i don't think i've seen a president do for civil rights leaders and later on had a private reception at the white house. >> how was his mood? >> very upbeat and hopeful. i think his speech was about him setting a tone for where he saw the rest of the century going. i don't think it was about four

years for him. he's giving a vision. he thinks in terms, when he talks to us, about kennedy talking about the new frontier or johnson about the great society. i don't think everything he addressed yesterday was about everything he wanted to legislate, about where he sees the country going, his vision. >> an eye towards history. >> i think that's how he saw the inaugural address and he effectively did it. i think his specific of the next four years is the state of the union and his vision of "i had a cream." >> and what you said in the white house was illuminating. >> while you're drinking, everything i said was illuminating. >> amen. don't you wish that people in the pews could be drinking on those days? even your worst sermon would sound good. >> you described the president as relieved. i think we saw the president saying, what he's wanted to say

for 10 years. and republicans as a result, really back on their heels. republicans now may not get anything from this president in the next three clips. this is not a president who's getting ready to cave or to make a deal with them. starting tomorrow, they're going to try to get back on the offensive. tomorrow, they're going to introduce their bill, vote on their bill to extend the debt ceiling for three months, give themselves a little running room, but this is a president who is going to be aggressive about his agenda. he didn't just talk over republicans, he went right after them, talking about takers, s saying that's not what social security and medicare are, a jab not only at mitt romney but paul ryan, who he will be dealing with. >> when you have a guy who has bullied you in the schoolyard for four years and you finally fight the bully and you beat them like he just did in this election, you're not as afraid of the bully as you was or at

least cautious. i think they bullied this president. he went to the mat and re-elected with a wider margin than george bush and saying the bullying is over. we're either going to fight or work together. >> the problem is both sides feel like they were bullied over the past four years and they've got to figure out how to work together over the next four years. i want to talk about yesterday with you quickly and open it up. it struck me as a son of the south, like you, son of the south, second inaugurations struck me as actually more remarkable moment in the history of race relations, because when the president was inaugurated the first time, we all stopped, kind of like everybody in america was collectively at time square looking up at the ticker that said, war is over, we stopped. the second time, i was walking past the tv set on sunday, i saw the president getting sworn in,

huh, black man just got inaugurated of the president of the united states, i kept walking. that's the greatest thing. for an again the first class in first grade in mississippi that was integrated, to go from where we were in 1969, to now where a black man getting inaugurated president of the united states is nothing spectacular. that's amazing. knew said something very very important. someone said yesterday that when we knew the country was solid was not when george washington became the first president but when we received the election of the second. yesterday, i think you're right. when we saw we passed a certain point was the second election of president obama. it wasn't the economy was bad, it wasn't bush was bad, this where is the nation decided to elect a man and didn't get caught up on the race question. it was a very big moment. >> by the way, you can oppose the president on virtually every

issue without opposing him because he is a black man. that is just as important. >> and his birth certificate. >> he is just a man -- by the way, mika, let's talk donald trump and ask if he will do that the next four years. >> the commentary about the president's address yesterday and none of it talks about the fact he's an african-american president, all about what did he say and agenda and his policies and not his race. that's how far we've come in four years. it was stunning how normal it was, completely unremarkable. >> my hope was, al, that we would get to a point in america, even though i voted against him two times, you can vote against the man on his policies and still celebrate what this country has become. it's remarkable! i was always hoping that barack obama would reach the point where he was judged as a president who happened to be an african-american, like margaret thatcher was judged as a

politician, who happened to be a woman. i think we're there now. i think that says a lot about this country. >> i do, too. i think that's the story of america. it happens sometimes, it happ s happens, very difficult but it clearly has happened now. two of my very very favorite columnists are mike allen and david ignatius. i want to disagree with both of them. >> we're on opposite sides. he says the speech is small, we say it's the biggest mode ideologically ambitious speech. >> first, agree -- it was an inspiring speech. to say republicans are back on their heels and say i have a -- the fiscal situation is he doesn't have that option. the difference between the vision he offered yesterday and what he can get done. i think, even among democrats there is considerable concern not just because of that fiscal straitjacket he's in because of what mike barnicle said earlier,

he is a solo practitioner too often. i thought the speech laid out exactly what you wanted to lay out, to get it done, get some of it done, i am much less optimistic. >> i think that's right. i think that's the difference between the speech yesterday and the state of the union speech on february 12th. i think yesterday we saw the president as a he'd like to see himself, as he'd like his presidency to be and he wants to be remembered for what he's done not just who he is. >> and al was saying in terms of what he thought the president was perhaps handling some of those treating him -- acting as bullies, and sort of stare down the bully or even push through a little bit if you won. i would wonder if you dear are disagree with that and say this was the opportunity to reach out, that was missed. >> i need to be careful. i just -- you know, i've always done it on a much smaller level,

but i won four big elections on a small level in congressional race es. the second i won, the first thing was who will i call tomorrow morning. who hates me that has to deal with me. >> get the list out! >> i would get that list out and thank god, because i won four landslide victories averaging about 75, 80% -- >> but who's counting. >> it was a short list. you know what, i always picked up the phone the next morning. i know reverend al always works the phones, i went to the people against me the most, said the nastiest things about me, slandered me personally and attacked me and called them and said, met's get together. i knew they had to get together with me. because i had won and in my small corner of the world, i was the guy they had to deal with. >> that's a noble thing -- >> it's not just noble. it's machiavellian. they had to deal with me. i said, reverend al, you'll

appreciate this, stayed to politicians, what do i do, i said, read the sermon on the mount. practice the sermon on the mount politically even if you don't believe that jesus -- hold on -- is the son of god, read the sermon on the mount, liver that politically and the -- live that politically and i think the world will come to you. >> the president reached out yesterday, the inauguration was about vision, wasn't about the election. secondly i have to say it wasn't four years that brought us there, 50 years. we're not there yesterday in terms of total equality and why you have those of us fill fighting on the stage. we're better but haven't arrived that. >> by the way, the president did actually reach out, was very gracious during the lunch, when everybody was in close quarters. i think, again, i'm not saying that because i'm a republican and my party's in retreat, i'm saying that because it's the smart thing to do, reach out when you're the post powerful.

he's the most proufl right now. >> the speech was setting the frame, connecting the dots and reading his own story and expecting platitudes and it couldn't have been more a president with a backbone. >> and next, chris matthews and douglas brinkley, andrea mitchell and in a few minutes, "washington post," jonathan caphart on "morning joe."

if you joined us yesterday, at an irish club, the bartend , bartender's name, you forget to tell me how you spell your name. >> it's spelled p-a-d-r-a-i-c. >> it's padraic. >> it is. >> we extended you to 30 seconds. that was about it. a lot more to come from the dub lander including the "washington post," jonathan capehart, the second best dressed person in d.c. after michelle obama. you knew that was coming.

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a hybrid that c-max also bests in mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. welcome back. pulitzer prize winning editorial writer for the "washington post" and msnbc contributor, jonathan capehart. >> i have news for you. >> what's the news? >> look at this. how many republicans are in here? look at that! four. >> let me just say, we shall overcome. some day. some day. actually, maybe not -- we'll either overcome or go the way of the do doe bird.

a 50-50 proposition. we don't have many republicans here. >> we don't have a lot of time here. the collective turn, ti also think obama misunderstand this moment. the progressive era new deal and great society laws were enacted when america was still a young and growing nation. they were enacted in a nation that was vibrant, raw, underinstitutionalized and needing taming. reinvigorating a mature nation means giving government to give people the tools to compete but then opening up a wide field so they do so ruak cowsly creatively. it means spending more here but de regulating more there. it means facing the fact we do have to choose between current benefits to seniors and investments in our future, and that to pretend we don't face that choice as obama did is effectively to sacrifice the future to the past. >> jonathan, first, what do you

think of this speech and secondly, what do you think of david's column? >> i thought the president's speech was terrific, a progressive vision for the country. the guy won twice and ran on all the things he talked about yesterday, inclusion, balanced approach to the nation's problems. when it comes to david brooks' column, as mika was reading, i was thinking, how is that different from what the president actually said? i mean, he's talking about how, you know, what he wants to do is what he's been saying all along, a balanced approach. we have to take care of our seniors and take care of the middle class. we have to take care of the poor. at the same time, we have to do things, make investments to ensure this country of ours is able to lead for the next 100 years, the next 400 years. but it's not to say that you have to have one or the other. you have to figure out a way to do both, so that either the old

or the young don't get shortchanged. it's going be tough, though. >> i'm concerned, al, forever the president's not willing to take care of the entitlement programs, to really reform those and cut back over the next generation we won't have the money to invest in the future. that is an either/or proposition. if you keep entitlements as they are moving forward, you won't have the money to invest in the future. >> long term, you're absolutely right. i think every indication, including public pronouncements is obama is willing to do that, willing to do at least some of that. willing to do means testing for medicare recipients, willing to look at the cost of living adjustment. those are big, big things, joe. that's the next stage. that's not this stage. i think when they get into this budget stuff, i'm not awfully optimistic anything will be done but there is some hope. >> quickly, katty, before we go

to break, do you agree with that? >> i think the single most defiant line in the inaugural address and where he threw the gauntlet down to republicans, we have to look at our long term health care costs, true, you don't really have a deficit problem, you have a health care spending problem. you have to make the choice. this is america, you don't have to choose between the elderly and the next generation. he was really laying down a marker to the republicans when it comes to budget fights, i'm not going to make the cuts necessarily you want. you're right, in the long run, of course, the country has to do that. you have a choice, raise more revenue or cut your spending. it's pretty simple, you cannot carry on as much as you're doing at the moment if you're not going to raise a lot more revenue. that's not what the country wants. >> reverend sharpton, thanks to you. a great day for you. >> great day. buckle in, joe, you will be all right. >> we shall see.

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look at that crowd gathered now. that's morgan freeman, i think, on the capitol steps. bill russell, i'm sorry. thank you. now, in george stephanopoulos's defense, all tall people look alike to him. i see great chins, i don't know!

still, for the rest of the morning, stephanopoulos did a very good job. we have venus and serena williams coming in. look at that, there's danny glover. the dazzling miss halle berry looking fine. look at that. there's general colin and bill russell. the crowd loves them! f >> oh, yeah, welcome back to "morning joe" live from washington d.c. we have a great crowd here. my gosh, jonathan capehart is still with us and joining us on the set, former white house press secretary, robert gibbs. he's not doing too well this morning. chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of andrea mitchell reports andrea mitchell and presidential historian, douglas franklin, author of

"cronkite. this gentleman behind me, is he still here? he is right here. he is right here. he is not a republican. you might want to lose the bow tie then. misleading to me. >> all right. >> thank you very much. there you go. clarification. >> this business is not the easiest business that we do, you do it in realtime. seriously, you misidentify the greatest basketball player in nba history? >> i just misidentified a conservativ conservative. >> don't know what a's worse. >> i'm the one had a shot. >> under false pretenses. you took the drink, she didn't. you want to file a protest. >> i want to begin the segment by saying i shouldn't be held responsible for anything i may say or do in the next however many minutes. >> so robert -- >> i don't know what you poured. >> hopefully, it was very strong. let's talk about yesterday.

a lot of people are trying to figure out exactly what the president's plans were. they were -- everybody has said basically on left and right, it was a very progressive speech. this is only one-half of his message to america. the second half comes in the state of the union. what was he hoping to accomplish yesterday? >> i think that a state of the -- i'm sorry, an inaugural address has to meet the moment of the time. i think that's one of the things -- the great things you can say about this speech, it was a series of visions. a discussion about our values and ideals that met the moment. i actually tend to believe it was -- i think in this town, we tend to want to look at things and put them in one of throe boxes, liberal, moderate, conservative, left, right, center, i think this was pragmatism versus ideologically. those lines toward the end of the speech, where the president sets up, we are not going to once and for all solve the government -- how much

government debate, but we shouldn't confuse, as he says, absolutism for principle. let's not -- >> that was actually the one line -- i'm serious, it wasn't a lot of soaring rhetoric. david ignatius said it was actually partisan pedestrian speech, but this one section you talked about- >> hold on -- >> maybe he needed the shot. >> i was just going to say, though, that part of the speech, though, i thought -- i thought the rhetoric was actually lofty there. in fact, i immediately sent it out after i heard it, that you don't mistake absolutism for principle. >> right. >> that's the mistake that too many people make in washington and have for 20 years now. >> well -- it is what has gripped and paralyzed this town in a way that even as we have partisan fights and we've had partisan fights as long as this

town has existed, there's a difference between partisan fights and paralysis. i think about it, if you sat here on this day in 1997, the very first day of the second term of bill clinton, you would be, you know, nine months later, he had, with newt gingrich, a very significant and important deficit reduction deal, that did some things that he wanted and some things that speaker gingrich wanted. they were able to, in a pretty partisan time, come together on something really really big. i kind of think to myself, i hope we are at that moment, where we can sort of -- we're never going to -- we're never going to agree on every issue and we shouldn't. that's why we have different political parties. >> andrea. >> i just want to say, there were moments in this speech, but there was a theme, we the people

go back to the founders, think of dr. mar tin tin luther king there was an uplifting, beyond rhetoric, there was a theme of, our job is not finished until our gay brothers and sisters have equal rights under the law. this was a bigger moment, i think, than a lot of people initially gave it credit for. i just felt this was a president who has found his voice, who feels empowered and knows, as robert said, that he's not going to get everything. i think you were saying in the earlier hour, he didn't campaign on climate change, this is going to be hard and won't get done. >> he didn't campaign on gay rights. he didn't get behind gay rights for four years until joe biden basically outside him. >> exactly. at the same time, i think -- on that stage -- >> what's that? >> that goes a bit far. we can talk about that at another time. >> on the issue, on the issue. >> with re-election, he is thinking much more broadly and

much more inclusively. i was very moved, just being up there in that frozen crowd. looking out over the mass. >> one hour, eight minutes into the show, wave heard or read a variety of different reactions of the speech from both sides of the aisle, i think is fascinating. there isn't a sweeping one angle. put it in historical perspective for us. >> i was working it yesterday for cnbc news. my job as historian is to read all the second inaugurals. i also had met with president obama a couple weeks before, a group of historians meet with the president, he was talking about second inaugurals, i'm telling you, this was one of the best second inaugurals ever. [ applause ]. >> this was not lincoln, although lincoln's second inaugural is referenced early on in the speech. that was in the middle of the civil war when lincoln gave that. this is not f.d.r., we have

nothing to fear but fear itself, in the middle of the gr"great depression." a speech on social justice and injecting into the main fabric of american history and seneca falls and what that meant in 1948, civil rights movement and equality and inject seneca falls and mentioned women about three different times, mentioned stonewall, which when i went to graduate school here at georgetown, stonewall was considered lefty history not in the main fabric of the mainstream books, he threw stonewall in there as if it was a military battle site. and then selma. i thought that made it a historic speech. i can see why the republicans aren't that happy with it. it did seem to be a speech that appealed to the base largely. those reasons and then finally climate, joe, the president not talking about climate in '12, in debates climate didn't come up.

the journalist never asked one climate question. i think 50 years from now, climate may be the issue of our time. people may be wondering, why the seas are rising and glaziers melting and you can't get a new story about climate on, it's a hard story to cover. the president has to be an educate on climate issue. by giving it the form, not a paragraph, he's gone a long way to start the second term discussion on climate we need. >> we can't judge how historians are going to see this. i suspect on many issues, they'll see it as forward thinking. that doesn't take away from the fact it probably will be seen as the next couple years as a partisan speech. i think they best test how partisan the speech is, is not what republicans say on it, what democrats running for re-election on the senate two years from now say on the speech and what democrats say in swing

districts about the speech. i don't know you're going to get a lot of these democrats running in conservative states where the president got below 45%, and there are quite a few, in 2014, are going to be talking about gay rights, climate change and gun control. rober robert. >> look. every district is unique and different, as you well know and as we know, as we looking through the map. i think the speech, talking, as doug said about seneca falls and stonewall and selma acknowledged what we saw on election day, which was the makeup of our electorate is beginning to look f far more like the makeup of our country than the past. latinos, 10%, african-americans equal or exceeding what they did four years ago, a much broader thing. you could actually make the case in 2004, the election was decided in ohio in parts on the

gay marriage issue, right? >> right. >> eight years later, eight years later, we have a huge sea change in belief in this country. it's not a huge and overwhelming margin, but a majority of people support it. i think it was a recognition, again, of the broadening of the fabric of our american life that takes part each day in our politics. i will say this, i think a lot of what the president was talking about, too, in the social justice and in making sure that those that have been left behind get back on that ladder is an upward mobility into the middle class, we are in a very different moment that four years ago, we had this massive economic devastation we were looking at. now, we have begun that recovery but at the same time, we understand what the recession laid bare. that is for years and years, those in the middle or lower

middle class were falling further and further behind, while those at the very top of the ladder were doing quite well. the disparity is such, the disparity not just in income but ultimately opportunity threatens the american dream and requires that this president and other presidents do something about it. >> so jonathan capehart, the recovery though- >> you can clap. [ applause [ applause ] >> when i say something, don't be shy, please, just -- >> it indicated recovery because it's not in -- i think it was the david brooks column we read, it's not a mo mmentous time in history it's clear lines, black and white. not what lincoln was dealing with. what we're dealing with here is a middle class that's struggling. income that's going down. some parts of society doing incredibly well while the poverty level rising.

and then, quite frankly, the issue of spending and our deficit, basically smashing us in the face. we have to deal with it. >> right. we have a lumpy recovery. all the things you just talked about. then you add on top of it, dysfunction in th this -- dysfunction in this city that makes it impossible to address any of these issues. to echo something that robert was saying, he talked about how in 2004, you had all those anti-gay ballot initiatives around the country that a lot of people think swung the election towards george bush and away from john kerry. eight years later, not one gay question came up. the gay issue never came up as a wedge issue, eight years later. i think that's also a great sign of progress how far this country has come on the issue of -- on the issue of gay rights in to toe, not just same sex marriage, but should gays and lesbians be treated equally under the law, as the president said in this is

inaugural address and to add on something joe just said, i'm not sure in 2014 democrats in swing districts will be running away from the president's inaugural address, i'll be curious what the president says in his state of the union address, that's where he gets down to the nitty-gritty of policy descriptions for the country. >> one of the other quick moments, i was thinking about the defense of marriage act, the fact it's coming up before the supreme court and the president gave stonewall unprecedent ed mention in the inaugural address. you had story the other day in the "new york times" about a gay couple, two women soldiers in afghanistan, who needed post-trauma counseling and went -- their chaplains told them they could go to these group sessions when they returned to the states and they were asked to leave because they quote made the other soldiers, who had been fighting with them in their units, they made them uncomfortable. what are we saying to men and

women who return from this war and need help in their lives, if their follellow combat veterans not want to be with them. that's sort of the broader issue the president was addressing. this is the 40th anniversary of roe v. wade and our wall street poll shows unprecedented support for abortion rights without restrictions. the most support in decades [ applause ] >> according to this poll. and this was a reaction to the issues 0 todd akin, sandra fluke, foster frees and his conversations with me, just to the whole debate in 2012, that that rhetoric really had a blow back effect. >> douglas, wave seen time and again, time in the past the past 20, 30 years, you've seen it

over america's 230, 35 year history, that every time a party overreaches as the republican party has been seen to overreach, the other party gains. the president has made gains certainly not because of climate change or gay marriage or gun control, but he's given opportunities. i guess the real challenge now is how does he stop from ov overreaching. americans, i see what the poll says, americans are actually becoming more conservative, if you look at it over the past five years, on the issue of abortion, they're becoming more progressive on the issue of gay marriage. it's always as it is with americ americans, a very mixed bag. at the end of the day the question is who is going to get me back to work? who is going get my kids jobs out of college? who is going to ensure my children have a better america to live and grow up in than i do, have more opportunities, have better jobs, have more

upward mobility. that's the real challenge and right now, i don't know if there's a political party that answers their question on who's -- how are we going to move forward? >> a big question of the next few years. i think barack obama's legacy in history is going to be what the economy looks like, how the middle class is doing at the end of his second term. he has a lot of plowing to do, in order to get -- to achieve -- if he doesn't reach a mark people feeli that better days are here, it will be very open for the republican party in 2016 for somebody like a chris christie to step into the frey and seize the reins. there was a lot of talk before the obama speech about the curse of a second term, where you can do a lot with the second term. dwight eisenhower was able to be a moral leader in his second term by sending troops to little rock and standing up for civil rights, by creating anwar, ike

created our nation's largest wildlife refuge. eisenhower demilitarized antarctica or people would be feuding over military rights in antarctica and kept it as a peace zone. it's not that much for president obama to talk about climate change. how many sandies do we need or record breaking temperatures? forests are burning in wyoming and colorado and mexico. this is a big problem and others have shown leadership on climate and i think the president joined them yesterday. >> thank you so much. up next, they squared off on jeopardy and now chris matthews and robert gibbs face off again. and getting drunk here at the dublin in washington d.c. matthews versus gibbs straight ahead, plus the mayor joins the

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and i as citizens have the power to set this country's course. you and i, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time, not only with the votes we cast but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. let us each of us now embrace, with solemn duty, and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthrigh birthright. >> welcome back. welcome back at 24 past the hour. joining us now at the dubliner, along with this great crowd,

wow, we have "hardball's" chris matthews, the author of "jack kennedy elusive hero" and democratic mayor of san antonio. >> most commentators on all sides of the political spectrum say this was a progressive speech. what was your take on what the president said, how he said it and what it means for this country moving forward? >> i think it was -- what grabbed me in the beginning, recognition is another point of view. when he talked about skepticism. he listed all the good things, regulatory power and administration and legitimately questioned the ability of the government to do any of these things. he talked about what i thought was the news was iran. i think he said, i'm not going to war with iran last night. i think it was about iran, iran,

when he said we can talk to our enemies and convert them the way we did japanese and germans and ahead of the war and didn't talk about israel and make us a more hawkish country. it was what we can do with our enemies effectively. i thought that was a hell of a statement and people like cheney dying and boldin would have probably been secretary of state yesterday. the kagan crowd, 2,000 kagans, all over the white house as well. it was a real statement against the warhawks last night, really strong one. it may cause a lot of conflict. everybody talks about it, says if we attack iran, once we do, we're in permanent war with them. they will never stop going for nuclear. there is a window we can possibly move them away from nuclearization. that moment will go away and once it does we will never reclaim that chance. i think it was a peace message. >> you snknow pennsylvania bett

than any of us. it's not a swing state and should be a swing state and could be again if republicans stop moving forward. how do blue collar democratic voters in that state, how do they respond to the president talking about gun control and gay marriage and global warming. >> you're asking the question to which you know the answer. there is no -- in pennsylvania, there's a gun culture. the nra people win because they're relentless. we'll talk about gun control now and talk about climate change and talk about peace in iran. then talk about something else, fiscal accountability, poor people and gay rights and the gun people never stop talking about guns. they will keep a record on anybody that votes against them, a life record and nail you against any vote any time in your career. it's tough business. i think there's a chance on browned checks. it's -- background checks.

it's very hard to say give a gun to anybody. information about who gets guns. crazy people getting guns. scary guns getting in the hands of scary people. i think that's an argument hard for them to oppose. >> i think also high capacity magazines, even though that's a tougher slope. >> harder fight. >> things are changing. i've said this before, i'll say it again, whatever the nra gives the next two years to candidates, outside groups are going to give more. newtown changed everything. >> newtown changed everything. the nra makes mistakes like that a-bo abominable add that focused on the daughters even though it says it didn't. >> the ipad app. >> at the same time, tom ridge, who knows a lot about pennsylvania politics, is in favor of some limits on this. he voted for the gun -- for the assault weapon ban in '94. he was in the house and also

running for governor. he says, the nra came after him. he won that governor's race in the republican party, but they really cost him about 10 points, he said. he stood up and voted for the assault weapon ban in 1994. there are people like tom ridge in both parties, but there are republicans like tom ridge, our former homeland security willing to take a stand and more of them now. >> this isn't about gun control. hellard took care of gun control. americans have the right to keep and bear arms. this is about assault weapon control. few building off what mika said, the reason you're hearing from generals, at the same time, the reason why this doesn't have to be a cultural argument with deer hunters in pennsylvania or quail hunters in texas is because we're not talking about saying you can't have a 12 gauge shotgun. if you want to take your son out in the woods to hunt for a deer this weekend.

i've never met a dad who said, come on, son, i have an ak-47, we're going hunt for deer. >> the issue is a slippery slope. it's so strong and you can argue and say it's not there but it's there. >> it's always been the slippery slope argument and the nra used that to scare members. that was taken off the table in 2008 when scalia, along with clarence thomas and sam olito said you have the right to have and bear arms and the government can regulate. this slippery slope argument no longer exists. it's a lie. >> it's a lie. >> i want to say, if you can't have an ak-47, this is next. >> why in tell do we live in a

country that guarantees crazy people have a right to have ak-47s. just a second. why does the right to bear arms include some wacko getting a 30 magazine clip. live in this country that acknowledges the second amendment right. i don't think that guy should have access to that weapon. not to say a father can't take his son or even his daughter deer hunting this weekend. i have no problem with that. i grew up in alabama and watches fathers do it and tons of fathers do it today. none of them are going "into the woods" with a gun and 30 bullets to kill a deer. >> this is a big debate. >> as you can imagine, from pennsylvania and alabama, it's that slippery slope argument that has won the day for many years now at least since the mid '90s, the fact the supreme court came down on this and said, no, you actually have a right to bear arms independent of being part of a militia, that's

significant. i think what is different now and hasn't been accounted for is social media. now the opportunity to actually penetrate that culture and get a message out there in a way that it authentic and from people is much more powerful than it was in the mid 1990s or 10 years ago. it will be interesting to see in this new environment how the nra's traditional argument that paranoia, how it stands up against the new reality how people get their information. that's very different than anything we've over seen. >> and the emotional force of newtown. >> you have the emotional force of that. again e, that change the political landscape, like 9/11 changed the political landscape, pearl harbor changed the political landscape. i understand, chris, you come from pennsylvania -- >> i'm skeptical and heard these arguments all my life. >> i lived in northwest florida, born in georgia, grew up in mississippi, went to college in

alabama. i understand my people. will tell you this. after i came out aggressively against crazy people, getting cra crazy weapons, against assault weapons, when i came out in support of assault weapon control, chris, it was pem i grew up in, in the southern baptist church in northwest florida, in meridian mississippi, tuscaloosa, alabama, saying, i'm a hunter, these people don't believe in what i believe. this is about survivalist, not about second amendment rights. >> if you're a senator from joe manchin from west virginia really hurt the democratic party several elections going back to al gore, if you're bobby casey in pennsylvania and quietly talking to harry reid, do you want him to bring this up or would you rather he didn't bring it up until the house passes it. if the house doesn't pass it, wait until they bring it up in the senate. aren't you better off as democratic senator or mod ra rat, if there's one out there,

wouldn't you rather not have to vote on this? >> joe manchin is actually going to be bringing up a bill that is going to require universal registration. it's an 85% deal. i think a guy like joe manchin can win the day in west virginia. i think these high capacity magazines, as joe and i have talked an awful lot since newtown. as joe said, i've been hunting my entire life in west virginia, all my buddies i grew up with have been hunting in virginia my entire life. we have never gone "into the woods" with more than five or six bullets. you don't need them. >> let me give you a snapshot, i'm standing in the stands interviewing the governor of illinois and joe manchin walks over and talks about what they can do post newtown in the middle of the inaugural

ceremonies when the president was in the middle of his speech and talk about what is possible. this has changed everything. children are involved and we're all thinking about the children. >> with regards to reasonable restrictions, one of the things that happens, the muscle of the argument has atrophied just because nobody has said it, nobody has been forthright about it. if you have senator manchin out there, that says, look, with these reasonable regulations, this is what i believe, this is what's right. democrats haven't been doing that the last i don't know how many years. you will see the shifting of public opinion, even if some of those tougher areas you're talking about, suburbs of pla places. >> still can't underestimate the power of the nra, though, to chris' point. people are rushing for guns. >> i think this conversation will be held again like the middle east peace talks, we'll be doing this the rest of our lives. when bobby kennedy was stop, an

unpopular view, when bobby kennedy was shot, i wrote my congressman to try to get something done and nothing was done. >> thank you. we'll see you on "hardball" from 5:00 to 7:00. >> and thank you, mr. mayor, we loved having you. >> and tom coburn join us on set. >> pay attention now, at blank soldier, four letters. >> what is a soldier. >> finish it out. >> full name of the ut pilot shot down in the middle of the sovi soviet union in 1960. chris. >> who is gary powers. >> we need the full name. >> who is gary powers? >> no. >> lizzie? >> who is francis gary powers. >> full name, lizzie benefits. >> robert gibbs, congratulations. the literacy project for

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you know what, mika, we have tom coburn here. behind us, we look at the

capitol. tom was just telling me perhaps the greatest congressman ever to serve in that capitol, the history was me, right? did you say that? >> i had a little lapse of memory right now, i guess. >> you did not say that. were you out there yesterday? >> >> i was. the music and speeches all fine. not real long. everybody stayed warm. >> good or bad? >> not too bad. >> very good. we have tom coburn coming up. mika, i just have to say, it's great to have hat least one conservative in the dubliner this morning. we'll be right back. keep it here on "morning joe." >> you better hurry up. el el el elloise, charlotte and olivia have taken your place. i'm jennifer hudson.

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has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. good morning joe. beautiful morning on washington d.c. we're in dubliner where i've been surrounded by left wingers the last hour and 45 minutes. i found a fellow conservative. >> that's nice. how does he look?

>> he has a beard and wears cowboy boots and unlike al hunt, they actually look like they belong on him. tom coburn, good to have you here. >> welcome back to the show. >> barack obama was a friend of yours in the senate. how did your friend do yesterday? >> he did fine. i think he missed some opportunities to pull the country together. but a lot of his words were good words for the country to hear. we have such big problems, some of the promises and potential for our country aren't going to be achieved until we're pulled together and we solve the economic problems in front of us. they're not going to go away and we're not going to grow our way out of them. i think he missed an opportunity to require the responsibility of this wonderful freedom we have to require all of us to have some sacrifice. it doesn't matter who it is. for us to get back actually back on the track where we need to

be. >> your issue, like mine, when i came in, in '94, like your issue when you came in, in '94 when we came in together, your issue since then, has been the national debt. i was -- i said really the only part of the speech that really caused me concern was t the -- when he touched on entitlements, it sounded like he still might be in political mode there. >> well, you know, it doesn't matter what mode he's in, it doesn't matter what mode the republicans are in, there's a power greater than both of them. it's called math and the math is going to consume us. >> explain. >> medicare part a trust fund will be out of money in five years. social security disability will be out of money in 18 months. ultimately, we're going to do something about those things. so we can play the political game and not address the issue because it's hard politically,

but the -- that's my point is the real leadership, pull the republicans together, pull the country together, with the democrats, with the independents and say, here's a problem that's in front of our country. all of us are going to have to give. let's go solve this befo before -- the point i would make, the longer we delay, the solutions for these very big problems, the more painful they're going to be. >> mika, that's the great irony is, those that would claim that they are standing in the way of politicians who are going to raid social security or medicare and medicaid, they're the ones who are insuring, by delaying the fix, that the pain is going to be -- >> far greater. >> far greater on senior citizens and the truly disadvantaged when medicare and medicaid- >> no question -- >> have to be slashed 10 years down the road instead of taken care of right now in a reasoned

sensible moderate approach. >> i don't think there's any who would disagree with that necessarily. senator, how does this really get done? bipartisan groups have failed. is it fair to say that there might even be some members of your own party that aren't really serious about it? >> sure. that's fair. >> therein lies the fact you obviously have opposition from democrats on this, where -- how is it going to be pushed to the limit, like the debt ceiling, like everything else, the fiscal cliff, is this going to have to go to the very edge for us to have to deal with it? >> you're not going be able to take this one to the edge because you won't recover. in terms of the benefit and decline in benefit. this is a political town. people play games. they play political games to try to influence next elections. i would tell you that the problems in front of us are really too big for that. they're too big for somebody to try to advantage themselves off

of one of them. you look at 16$16.4 trillion rit now, you look at greece, that has the average family in greece owes $31,000, $36,000, the average family in america owes owes $51,000 towards the national debt, the individual, not the family. these are real problems. the question is the timing. when's the confidence of the world go away in our ability to handle our debt? and nobody knows when that's going to happen. and, you know, one of the things that happens is that everything continues the same as it does, until it doesn't. except nobody knows when that isn't going to happen. and so i would just think it would be prudent. plus, very healing for the country, for the president to, one of the things i think he missed in his speech was, to call on america, its better nature of sacrificing, to

accomplish a goal that's good for us all, no matter who you are. you know, if we don't do these things, the very wealthy are the only ones that are going to be fine. everyone else is going to be in the tank. >> i was speaking earlier about how i thought that the president did call on us to look toward or better natures on the issue of civil rights. but he didn't on the economic confrontation, the crisis facing us down the road. do you want to hear that in the state of the union? and what do you expect now from the house republican caucus, which clearly took a big step backward from the brink in their caucus meetings and in their retreat in williamsburg? paul ryan seems to be showing a lot of leadership in this regard, telling them to look down the road and come up with some other solutions. what do you think that they now are willing to give, if anything? >> gosh, i probably can't speak for them. i don't know -- >> what do you -- >> do you think they're part of

the problem? >> that's a tough caucus. the point is, you've got to find consensus. that you can get 218 votes out of the house on. and so part of it, it's a republican-dominated legislative body, but it doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to pass things with republicans. robert? >> well, look, i agree with senator coburn from a progressive perspective, right? in that, as he said, we have a math problem. we said this a lot during the campaign when we were talking about some of the romney tax cut proposals. but let's look at this from a progressive perspective -- see, it's starting to hit me -- >> there you go, the vodka. >> you know, as senator coburn says, if we don't do some common sense rational things, in 20 years or in 15 years or even in 10 years, we're going to have a budget that is completely taken up by entitlements in the

pentagon. and that will be the only thing we're capable of funding. it's the only thing we'll be able to use the power of some progressive government to try to change. you can't be -- i don't think you can be a really good advocate for education, if at the same time, you also don't make a powerful argument to get our priorities in order and make sure that we're capable, as a society, of responding to what we need to, because we are not fixed into a budget math problem that is so intractable as senator coburn says, that we sort of just drive off the edge. >> and michael, we have no money for discretionary domestic spending to invest in education, infrastructure, r&d. >> right. >> the things that government, we've grown to expect government to do, if we don't take care of medicare and medicaid. we say it time and time again, yet i get politicians on this

show that still pretend that you can take care of waste, fraud, and abuse. and we'll take care of it. and they'll be selling some of the spectacle. >> and foreign aid. >> yeah, let's cut foreign aid. >> it is not even getting at the edges of the problem. and what i asked the senator is, is a simpson/bowles framework dead? is that now gone off the table? but is there still some potential there to bring that back? do you see the president potentially taking the lead on that issue in the state of the union? and finally embracing that as a framework or is there some other model out there, i mean, because you have been, in my estimation, one of the stronger voices on the conservative side about that fiscal component. and so, my view is pretty much lined up with yours. >> it's hard to know. the senate has not operated under regular order for 3 1/2 years. you know, one of the ways to restore confidence in washington is to go back to regular order,

where you go through committees and you vote them and you bring it to the floor, and you offer amendments and vote them and then you merge it with the house, and you work a conference bill, and then you send it to the president. >> he either rejects it or accepts it. but the fact that we go down to a point, because we're not doing processed legislation, and everybody gets frustrated, and then all of a sudden, everything moves to a dark room, behind the scenes, and we come up with, quote, solutions after two or three people negotiating can't do it, and then we get a solution, and there's no transparency to the process. so therefore, there's no confidence in the process. and so i would -- and i'm not -- that's not a partisan statement. that's happened on both sides of the aisle. i'm just saying, our government works when it's transparent, when you allow committees and hearings and bills to go through committees. and you have full and honest debate and have people out there, defending how they voted and what they thought. >> all right, senator tom

coburn, thank you so much. we'll be right back. keep it right here on "morning joe," live from the dubliner. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno.

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>> president obama pauses a moment to take it all in after his second inaugural address yesterday. welcome back to "morning joe," live from the dubliner in washington, d.c. that was something. >> it was a nice moment, a

really nice moment, and a president understanding in the middle of it all -- >> the magnitude of it all. >> the magnitude of it all, and the finality of it all, it was the last time he would deliver a speech like that. it was his last inaugural parade. it was -- sometimes, and i know this will be shocking to dee dee myers, sometimes big figures, especially men, in the midst of historic moments, don't have perspective. and the president appeared to have perspective yesterday. >> amazing. i don't -- are you sure about that? >> that's what i've been told. >> he did appear to have perspective. he did appear to be living in the moment, understanding that he had just won his last campaign, he was standing in front of a crowd that size for the last time in his life. and sort of having an opportunity to shape history in a moment that will not be repeated in his lifetime, for him. >> it's amazing. and it's certainly not the last time we're going to be at this bar. so joining us here, jonathan capehart, michael steele still

with us, also on the set, david maraniss, the author of "barack obama: the story," now in paperback. and as joe mentioned, former white house press secretary under president clinton and contributing editor to "vanity fai fair", dee dee myers. >> i think dee dee also wrote a book about your boss. >> i did! >> a classic. >> i traveled around america a lot for a while. >> so, david, what were your thoughts, watching the president of the united states in his second inaugural address? a man that you have just completely immersed yourself in over the past several years. >> i thought it was to him a more important inaugural than the first one in so many years. i think he felt assured. i think his whole life of trying to avoid traps and get to a certain place was realized. i think that, you know, when he started politics as a community

organizer in chicago, and the mantra then was, you imagine the world as you want it to be and deal with the world as it is. his first inaugural address was about the world as it is or it was at that moment, so it was naturally a little more oblique. this address, he was talking about the world as he wants it to be, and it was really the most profound declaration of what he truly believes, i think, that i've heard him give. >> dee dee, do you agree that this was a progressive speech, that as many on the left and right have said, this is the president declaring an end to an era of reaganism? >> yeah, i think that the president sees himself as a transformational figure, i think -- and not so much. he's the face of a changing america in a lot of ways, and i think he understands the symbolism of his election. and that's why i think people are so -- that's divisive in and of itself. people are comfortable with the change that is happening, whether they want it to or not, and people who want to stop it at all costs. i think he sees himself standing, you know, at the crossroads of those forces that are going to come, regardless of

whether people want them to. and he just -- i think he laid down the gauntlet and said, they're coming. i think that's what yesterday was about. this is where the country is going. four years ago, we sort of felt like it was, but there have been a lot of obstacles. yesterday, i think he feels like his theory was proved right by his re-election. >> so let's listen to some portions of the speech. it was 281 words shorter than his first inaugural address. and president obama touched on everything from gay rights to the nation's attitudes about those in need. >> we must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. but we reject the belief that america must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. the commitments we make to each other, through medicare and medicaid and social security, these things do not sap our

initiative, they strengthen us. they do not make us a nation of takers, they free us to take the risks that make this country greater. we will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms. the path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. but america cannot resist this transition. we must lead it! >> all right. so, for david maraniss, for some inside the echo chamber, there might have been some concern that there wasn't enough

reaching out by the president to republicans on spending, on fiscal issues. but isn't this speech, the second inaugural, more to lay down markers for even generations to come, and then we have the state of the union, where perhaps he can address some of the short, and i mean, in the grand scheme of things, the short-term issues that our country faces. >> i think that's true. and i also think that this speech was ideological, but he's a pragmatic president. and so i think that not everything that he said in the speech -- you know, he said that it's going to be imperfect. the solutions will be imperfect. he's not going to try to please every constituency. if he just took climate change, for instance, and energy, i wouldn't doubt that he'll approve the keystone pipeline, actually, as part of his larger energy plan on climate change. and that will probably anger some environmentalists. he might get to that later. but he was laying down the markers of what he truly believes, and i think he'll govern more pragmatically.

>> there is some agreement among pundits about the goal of the president's speech. "the new york times" said this -- "the president made a forceful argument for a progressive agenda." the atlantic's james fallows said this, "the most sustainedly progressive statement barack obama has made in his decade on the national stage." conservative charles krauthammer praised it as "historically important," but elaborated by saying that "obama is basically declaring the end of reaganism in this speech." and look at what the wall street editorial page declared, "president obama has never been as candid as he was monday in asserting his liberal ambitions. if his second term does break down into more partisan gridlock and rancor, let the president show that the president set the stone with his second inaugural." >> michael steele? >> dee dee, one of the things that i took away from the speech was sort of the overarching theme or the connection, if you

will, from the past to the present, on civil rights. how did you read that, and in some sense, that was almost, for me, a little bit conservative, in the sense, it wasn't, you know, progressive civil rights marching kind of thing, but it was sort of making that sort of foundational connection to our history in civil rights and bringing it forward, you know, whether it was stonewall and tying that into the overall movement. how did you see that and read that part of it? >> i loved that part of the speech. it was rooted in the declaration of independence. and the unfinished business. you know, i think it's been too easy, the country has said, this is a country where any kid accomplish his or her dreams. that's not always true. and i think the president was saying last night, we have a lot of work left to do, to make the promise of the declaration, of our founding principles, which he kept going back to, a reality. and i think for a lot of -- i think the speech was really talking more to progressives than to anybody else. i think that was a very stirring part of that. i also thought there was a lot of nice, harkening back in his

language, you know, the blood drawn from the lash and the sword, for example, in trying to make these things come to be real. >> john? >> david, i wanted to ask you about "the wall street journal" editorial page's reaction to the president's speech. basically, it was your reaction to the "wall street journal" -- >> utterly predictable. >> but are they wrong? >> in their assessment of the president -- >> they're not wrong that he's a liberal president. i think they're probably miscalculating somewhat, but for their own political reasons, how he will actually preside as president in the second term. >> but do you think that, because of the president's speech and the tone and the words that he used -- >> could you ask me that question? >> no, i'm asking the -- >> yes, i think they're right. all right. go ahead and answer. >> no. >> but will it lead to more rancor, more partisanship, as if

we -- as if there's more to have. >> as if there's more to have, first of all. and secondly, actions are more important than words, always, in congress. and there's plenty of more opportunities for them to deal with each other. >> hey, by the way, i take yesterday in two parts. i think the president gauge a speech, the inaugural speech, was to america, was to his progressive base, but really was more to history. the president on these social issues that we conservatives are going to be a little slower on, i think, i think the president, as al hunt said last hour, is going to be on the side of history and it will look very forward-thinking 15, 20 years from now. but there was a second part of the day i think just as important or maybe even more important. and that was -- >> at lunch . >> -- the congressional lunch, where i thought the president struck a very conciliatory tone. >> and even before that, where he had coffee. >> but he addressed the issue straight on, they're getting the sound bite ready, in a beautiful

lunch that was put together by a bipartisan group of tasters in washington, put together a meal that -- >> he said, you can't blame either party for -- if this food is bad. but it was delicious. but here is what the president then said, addressing the opposition. and everybody in the room. >> i recognize that democracy is not always easy. and i recognize there are profound differences in this room. but i just want to say thank you for your service and i want to thank your families for their service. because regardless of our political persuasions and perspectives, i know that all of us serve because we believe that we can make america for future generations. and i'm confident that we can act, at this moment, in a way that makes a difference for our children and for our children's children. >> dee dee, that is a president who had some of the same

political polls as your president, bill clinton, did. a progressive base that always wants to move further on the social issues and middle america is ready to move on. and then a republican party that's pulling hard the other way. >> right. the country's changed so much since bill clinton was inaugurated 20 years ago this weekend. if you think back to some of the forces that sort of knocked him off his stride in those early days, it was gays in the military. it was just the thought that people could serve openly, was such a huge setback for him, for having endorsed that. so the country's come a long way. and yet, there's a new set of forces against this president. actually, the same forces that are even more -- >> intensely. >> yeah, intensely, because the battle is being won. and one of the things i thought was interesting, the president came out so forcefully for gay marriage was, this isn't going to happen in congress. he doesn't have to wait for congress. it goes back to what you're saying, this is for history. it's happening already in states around the country, and the

movement, it's happening. and there's more states coming. the head of the gop in illinois, for example, endorsed legislation in that state that will pass, and gay marriage will become legal in illinois, among many other states. so state by state, little by little, these forces are going to move. >> and we've got the supreme court, which is going to hand down a ruling of some sort in two cases, probably in june. and they were sitting there yesterday, listening to what the president had to say. >> but, jonathan, a speech comes with little cost, for a president in his second term. i've been hearing all morning about how this speech ushers in a new era of gay rights, for gay americans. and yet this is a president who, for most of his first term, told americans that he was against gay marriage. >> well, he told americans that he was evolving on the issue. and you know, obviously, following the president, reporting on the president, what the president -- the problem he had earlier, to last year --

>> it's called re-election. >> no, no, no. >> no, no, it was called re-election. >> let me make my point and i'll tell you. the president, his words said, you know, i'm evolving, i'm not there yet, but his deeds said something else. he has untold number of things that he did that benefited gay as and lesbians and their families, that aren't sexy, that aren't marquee issues, but that really do something to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender americans. so when he finally said that, you know, i personally believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry, finally, the words matched the deeds of this president. remember, this is the same time that he said, and his justice department said, we are no longer defending the so-called defense of marriage act, because it's unconstitutional. >> and he wanted to bring the country along with him. as dee dee said, clinton got so

trapped in that gays in the military. obama accomplished that first. and once he did that, everything opened up for -- >> because he learned the lessons from president clinton, which he didn't bring the military along with him. >> and you had the chairman of the joint chiefs endorsing the end of don't ask, don't tell and embracing serving openly 20 years ago. >> so what was he saying in 2007, 2008, 2009, when he said that he did not support the marriage between gay and lesbians, you know, among gay and lesbians, when he was decidedly, or at least as far as the rest of the country assumed he was, by his words, that that was not an issue he supported. he didn't use the term "evolution," until as joe pointed out, it was political time. >> so and my point here is, it's not a gotcha game against the president, it's just telling everybody not to overreach in

what one speech meant yesterday. that this is a president who, himself, would take smaller deeds, to forward that agenda, that he thought wouldn't cost him politically. but he was still fearful in this election year, until joe biden forced his hand. >> something he was not happy about. >> and by the way, the president was angry with joe biden for forcing his hand, for forcing him to come out and say he supported gay marriage. so, as we move forward, i think the march forward on this issue may be a bit slower than yesterday's speech. >> david maraniss, thank you very much for being on the show today. >> do you think i'm wrong? >> i'm you're wrong too. >> we've had nine states plus the district of columbia, where marriage equality is legal and you couldn't say that even four years ago. >> and six more that are coming. i think the president caught up with -- the public moved so much

more quickly than he ever expected and he caught up with them. >> thank joe biden. >> he should thank -- the president should thank joe biden. >> all right. coming up next, "bloomberg businessweek's" joshua green, "time" magazine's michael duffy, and nbc news's luke russert. but first, bill karins has a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning, mika. of course, everyone here, we all know it's a little cold. with the way your coats are all folded over on to your laps there, we'll do a coat check next time. it is a very cold day out there, as we've advertised. maybe some snow in the areas around d.c. by friday. let me break it down and show you what we're dealing with now. frigid in many areas out there, windchills are just bitter, had some snow overnight in rhode island especially, and we'll continue to be watching what's going on in the great lakes, a lot of heavy snow yesterday in erie and buffalo, be careful driving the new york state throughway in syracuse to lake michigan, still some snow bands coming just south of the grand rapids area.

let's take a look a the forecast for today. nice in denver, but the cold air, really the big story from minneapolis to chicago. also watching temperatures there around 27 in washington, d.c.. and as i mentioned, a possible snowstorm coming to areas of the east coast. and joshua green, calling joshua green, noticed on twitter this morning, everyone at the bar pay attention, i'll be on "morning joe" at 8:15 live from the dubliner, will buy a beer to any follower who comes and says hi. joshua green, everyone. joshua green. more to come from the dubliner live on "morning joe." stay tuned.

there's one last thing i've got to do. i've got a date with me here. she inspires me every day. she makes me a better man and a better president. the fact that she is so devoted. ladies and gentlemen, my better half, and my dance partner, michelle obama. ♪

>> welcome back to "morning joe." last night the president and first lady at the commander in chief ball, dancing to jennifer hudson. with us now, washington bureau chief and executive editor of "time" magazine, michael duffy, who was the co-author of "the president's club: inside the world's most exclusive fraternity." also with us, senior national correspondent for "bloomberg businessweek," josh green, and nbc news correspondent who covers capitol hill, luke russert. >> all right, luke! all right -- >> luke is still awake. >> still awake from a long night. so michael, you write an awful lot about presidents and you talk about how these presidents have a -- always have a view toward history, especially as they move into their second term. and i want to talk about that in a second. but i saw jimmy carter yesterday, who helped you an awful lot in your book. and he's been known to not be a

joiner, to sometimes be a bit morose. he seemed to be in really good spirits. i don't know if you saw the images yesterday. but he seemed to be in really good spirits yesterday. >> and he was the senior president on the platform there, because george herbert walker bush wasn't there. and he also was elected the president of the united states. he can be charming. it's not in his nature, but he can do it. he plaid the role of senior sort of president yesterday and i think he probably enjoyed that. and it was, of course, a festive moment. >> remember, also, there was a lot in that speech that carter would like. president carter was the first american president to really make a push on the environment, on environmental reform, famously put solar panels on the white house, that ronald reagan later tore down. but jimmy carter's vision of government is getting a little bit more of a second chance, i think, with obama's second speech. >> reaffirmed, perhaps, even.

>> luke, you've covered the hill. what was the hill's response, yesterday, to the president's speech, to the events of -- >> before president obama had even left the luncheon, there was a statement out from cathy mcmorris rodgers, number 4 in the house gop conference who basically said, okay, there's a lot of nice words in this speech, but we would like to see some literal action. and the literal action is persuading the senate to pass a budget so we can move forward on fiscal issues. so i think you'll see some folks on the republican side, say, it was a beautiful moment for their country. obviously, they'll understand the significance of having an african-american president sworn in for a second time. but today, there was a press conference at 5:00 p.m., which is the first time we heard from house speaker john boehner since december 21st. i'm sure that the focus will now go to this gop president, to extend the debt limit. and there was this divide between some presidents, that bob costas wrote about, is obama the singular force in democratic politics that has sort of taken the country by storm, that has

these huge, new majorities found with african-americans and latinos and progressives, or is this something that's a lasting phenomenon? i think that's where you see the divide with the house republicans. some feel, this is obama, this will never be replicated again. and there are others who say, no, we need to change, because this will continue to beat us moving forward. >> luke, we had mike ellen on in the first hour and he said he was talking to republican leadership that was telling him off the record that right now they feel like all they can do is go into the old four corners, stall. because right now the president has all the momentum and they understand they're going to get run over, and maybe that's why they have the three-month advance. do republican leaders feel more on the offensive today than they even felt after the president got re-elected? >> sure. i think part of what influenced their actions on the debt limit the first time around was this honest belief that mitt romney would be president of the united states. this idea that let's block to

the bitter end, because then our guy's going to be in there and we can do everything we want to do. they have to convince their majority in the house, this is one of the things that paul ryan told us at the house gop retreat last week in williamsburg, they're only one-half of one third of the government. a lot of these focus who are newly elected believe that they were sent there to do big things and they believe that they're from a congressional district in conservative oklahoma, that that gives them the authority to block the president on everything they want to do. until they can educate those rank and file members that you have to get what you can get and give and take, there will be a lot of blocking. >> dee dee, the republicans in the house need to understand what democrats were taught in the 1994 after pulling your president pretty far left. that is, you can only pull your people so far. you've got a republican party now, in part because of what happened over the past two years, he's got a 23, 24, 25% approval rating. the tea party has a 9% approval rating. john boehner has an 18% approval rating. while you have a president who's

in the 70s in likability, and in the 50s on his job performance. >> right. >> this is a republican party, who if they keep playing the game they've been playing for the past two years, is going to lose the house in 2014. the trends are unmistakable. >> the trends are unmistakable. and yet, the house majority, or a majority of the majority, can still block so much of what the president wants to get done. the question is, do they want to do it? are the members who luke mentioned who come from a conservative district and a conservative state, who have no political skin in the game, right, by voting no and by being obstructionist, are they educatable? and that was boehner's big challenge, can he bring these people along? a lot of these conservative members voted against the fiscal cliff deal, hoping it would pass. that is a huge problem. they're willing to forestall what they think is in the best interest of the country in order to protect their political interests back home. what's going to change there? >> and mika, by the way, i want

to be really clear here. i'm not talking about conservative republicans caving, voting for progressive pieces of legislation, but they can do no harm and they can get together and start working with the larger group and make sure they don't do things that further tarnish the republican brand. >> i think it's about conservative republicans unifying and communicating more effectively and being a legitimate part of the conversation again, and i guess, josh, i'll toss it to you with that question. what's the opportunity, given some of the deadlines that we're going to be approaching -- >> the first thing the republicans need to do is come up with a plausible goal to aim towards, beyond simply opposing anything that president obama advocates. and i think one good idea would be deficit reduction, which is a conservative idea through and through, buried in obama's speech yesterday was a line that hasn't got much attention. but he said, we need to make the hard choices on health care costs and on the deficits. i think that was a signal that he's willing to deal, if republicans are willing to carry

through and really go about agreeing to the kind of deficit reduction that they talk a lot about, but don't necessarily practice, especially not when there's a republican president. >> so, michael, was the second part of that phrase, when he went on to say, but, we're not going to touch anything. what are we supposed to focus on? the first part of that phrase or the second part, where he says, but we're not going to do anything that's politically -- >> it was one line in that speech, suggesting that there might be a way out of the -- >> and then came the seven or eight lines saying, but we're not going to do this or this or this. so that doesn't seem like much of a change. >> michael, what did you see the president doing yesterday? >> i think finally revealing himself. this is a president who, miles of newsprint has been spent, is he liberal or moderate, pragmatic or idealistic? what is he? biographers still don't know, after their books are written. yesterday, he said, i'm a

liberal, certainly a very bold progressive, and here are the 10 or 11 things i want to do. i only need 18 votes in the house to get a lot of this done, so watch out. it was, to me, a very progressive statement of who he was, more than we've seen. >> and talking about those 18 votes, mika, make no mistake of it, and i hope my republican friends on the hill understand what is happening and what that speech was about yesterday, he brought up social issues, he talked about climate change, he talked about gay marriage, he talked about gun control. and he understands, he may lose legislatively those battles in the house, but he understands, if he does, chances are very good the republican party will look older, whiter, and more out of touch, and he will use that against them in 2014. again, i'm not saying republicans vote for these issues, if they don't believe in these issues. they just need to understand,

they are getting set up as the grateful dead would say, like a bowling pin. and they're going to get knocked down if they don't handle it correctly. >> he'll be on the right side of a lot of these issues. thank you guys very much. >> look at luke. he's ready to go to sleep. he is tired. a long night, baby! >> 12 hours of sleep last night. i feel great! >> you behave. >> i feel great. >> okay. our next guest read his powerful poem, one today, at yesterday's inauguration. richard blanco joins us straight ahead on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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all of us, as vital as the one light we move through, the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day, equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined, the "i have a dream" we all keep dreaming, or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won't explain the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today and forever. >> that was inaugural poet, richard blanco, reading his poem at the inauguration. and richard joins us now. he is the first hispanic and openly gay member of this elite club of inaugural poets. richard, it's good to have you on the show. i have to say, the poem is so beautiful. i could see the sun rising over

those landmarks across the country as you were describing. when i saw you walk up to the podium, though, i thought to myself, what's he thinking right now? what were you thinking, like, walking up to the podium, right before you started, what was going through your mind? >> actually, of course, it's not my first poetry reading, obviously. >> i know, but this is kind of a big one. >> this is kind of a big one. but i think it's the process i've always done, when i get up off that chair, i say to myself, here we go, and it's like on, in terms of, sort of the artistic persona sort of takes over, or i should say, the artistic spirit. >> so you were there -- >> i was there. and i try to be as present as possible. >> is there one moment like, oh, what if i screw up? or anything like that? >> no, there's no room for that. one thing that was really touching, that i wasn't expecting, as i went up, the president and vice president rose even before i got to the podium and shook my hand and said a couple nice things. and so, when i went up to the

podium, i felt even, then, i was like, okay, i was like, they've got my back. >> that's big. that's big. so how did you prepare for this moment? >> as far as the actual writing of the poem or the presentation or -- >> the presentation, and then maybe get to the writing. >> it's kind of a funny story. but i live in bethel, maine, a small town of 2500. and my nephews had built a snowman and i live sort of on a bluff and they had built the snowman down on the hill. and i said, i need to practice this outdoors, so i set up sort of this podium, this makeshift podium off the deck and i was reading to the snowman. he loved it, by the way. >> i was thinking, then, when i got up on the podium, this isn't bethel and that's not a snowman. luke? >> richard, i was on vacation, and i was reading the palm beach post, and the columnist wrote this article about you where she said, "blanco's words triggered

memories so vivid, so poignant, scenes of a childhood set in a cultural wilderness where cuban heartache meant american dreams." talk about that. what is that cultural wilderness? >> what happened -- growing up in miami back in the 1970s, which is certainly not the miami we know today, we grew up between two imaginary worlds. one was our parents, cuba, the nostalgia of the stories, the gossip, all the 1950s, the things that they were still yearning for. and the other part of it was sort of imaginary america. because since it was such a close-knit cultural community, where, you know, all my classmates were cuban american, the teacher, the mechanic, the doctor, so i really thought places like "the brady bunch" existed somewhere. and i thought, surely, one day, i'd get to america. so as we like to say in miami, it was kind of like a purgatory, not in the negative sense, but kind of a waiting sense between those two worlds.

and that's what my writing became focused on, how do you navigate your way through that. and liz said, we love living in miami, it's so close to the united states and you don't need a passport. she said that years ago, i think. >> richard blanco, thank you so much. ed for for the record, you have arrived now. >> i'm in america. coming up next, business before the belle with brian shactman. we're live from the dubliner. ♪

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with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com. it's time now for business before the bell with cnbc's brian shactman. brian, what have you got? >> mika, thanks very much. looks like you're having fun. mixed markets before the open.

verizon, duponts, travelers, johnson & johnson. verizon and johnson & johnson not quite as good as duponts and travelers. interesting comments from phil mickelson, talking about his tax rate in california going up to 13%. he says a couple days ago that he has to pay now 62% to 63% in taxes, he might retire from golf, might leave california, might leave the country. he has since, late last night, reportedly backtracked on those comments and some say there's no way to humanly pay that much in taxes. but it raised an interesting point, not great pr for a guy whose net worth is more than $150 million. but he is a republican. also want to point out atari, for me, i don't know, pong, centipe centipede, go out of business every few years, filing chapter 11, trying to separate from their french parent company and emerge as a digital gaming company. i sort of grew up, i don't know

if they did frogger or not, but all the games that we knew as children of the '80s. back to you. >> all right, brian, thanks very much. look at my t-shirt. how cool is that? i love it! the dubliner. be sure to reach out to us on twitter @joenbc an and @morningmika. we'll be right back live from the dubliner. i will not drink that. >> you have to drink it. >> i'll do what i did in college.

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i thought the interview was a little more contentious than i was expecting. >> we agreed that there would be no-holds-barred and there would be no conditions on this interview. so here we go. open field. >> you are fat. >> you are a jerk. >> i said you were fat. you have no idea. >> yeah. >> you're crazy. >> you're cocky, arrogant, jerk. >> you were a crazy [ bleep ]. >> shut up! >> that was lame! what are you going to do? you [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> okay, okay. >> oprah, just leave me alone. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> just for scnitz, while you're

watching, imagine you're mitt romney. >> that i will faithfully compute -- >> that i will faithfully execute -- >> the office of president of the united states -- >> the president of the united states -- >> and will to the best of my ability -- >> wait -- you know romney's watching, and i guarantee you, it's one of the first times a devout mormon has ever used the phrase, oh, for [ bleep ]'s sake. for those of you traveling today, it's all about the cold, arctic air. look at some of the temperatures we have in the northeast.

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mr. vice president! mr. vice president! mr. vice president! hey, how you doing?! come on! come say -- come on! they won't let you? are you -- come on, that's it! yeah! all right! yes! yes! >> i said it before, i'll say it again, mika. >> i've got to say it again. al roker needs to be very careful about getting that excited. >> stop it! >> things have happened before, they can happen again. you girls have the most